


White Eagle

by FredGodOf



Category: The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth - All Media Types, White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 15:03:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15608892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FredGodOf/pseuds/FredGodOf
Summary: Marcus knows that Esca is the second angriest person he's ever met, after his wife Cottia, he also knows Esca's skill as a forger can help the Bureau solve some pending cases. What he doesn't know is that Esca has a past with a criminal who nearly ended his career.(A deeply self indulgent White Collar/Eagle of the ninth crossover written long after either of those fandom's heyday's)





	White Eagle

Sometimes it still makes Marcus angry, that his grandfather never told his uncle that he and his mother existed, that his uncle would have helped, could have relieved the aching misery of his heart broken mother struggling to keep Marcus fed and clothed and taken care of while she worked double shifts as a nurse's aid.   How she never had the time or the money to finish her RN, and Aquila would have waved his hand and given her the money to go back to school, would have babysat Marcus and taken them on trips around the world. Would have done it without a thought.

But Aquila had never known until he had been reading the paper and his eyes  had caught on Marcus Flavius Aquila wounded in action. Marcus had woken in the hospital and been told that it would have been better if they hadn't saved his leg,  that he might not walk again. He had stared at the curtain with the notes and cards from his men pinned carefully and thought about ending it all. The years of spending every waking moment trying to be just that bit better, the acceptance to West Point coming two months after his mother passed, the years at west point  with the instructors who remembered his father, and always said of him 'what a shame, what a shame, he had so much potential, we never expected him to end like that.' and the unsaid threat hanging over, you won't be like him will you Marcus? Bearer of your father's name. All of that rendered pointless by the shards of metal and plastic in his thigh.

It had been in that state of mind that an elderly man with a  mane of vivid white hair had appeared suddenly at his bedside  and embraced him with a declaration that he was the spitting image of his brother and he  was very sorry dear boy that he hadn't come twenty years sooner, and did he have any place to go to?

After being chased out by the nurses and returning suitably calmed down Aquila had explained himself, that he was Marcus's father's brother.  The one who was in the foreign service and his mother had never met. That he had no idea Marcus had existed, but now that he did would he like to come stay with him in New York City?

And Marcus had gone, having nowhere else to go to and had expected  a couch or maybe if he was lucky a spare bedroom. Instead he had found a house that very nearly qualified as a mansion and a spare  set of rooms and the angriest girl he had ever met who lived next door and introduced herself when she absolutely could not stand her aunt a moment longer and had leapt over the small gap from the back veranda of her Aunt's apartment to Marcus's Balcony which he was given  to understand used to be an empty room, and Aquila did not mind her company, so who the hell was he?"

Marcus had been so taken aback after months of  hushed voiced nurses and doctors and his uncle's  kind concern that he had immediately decided he liked this girl and declared that she was welcome whenever she wanted, but perhaps next time she  could knock on the french doors so he could make sure he was dressed?

Cottia had masses of red hair, a pinched foxish face and a terrible temper, but she was kind, and very fond of Aquila who let her have full access to his library.  She had decided that Marcus was an acceptable sort of person and subsequently took to bringing him books and terrible take out food and when he could finally get out of bed and limp very slowly down the hallway she showed him that her slim body held more strength than he had expected when she caught him more than once as he tripped on the no doubt priceless carpets.

She became his frequent company, and brought him his other companion a filthy and wet and ragged thing  that Marcus had half thought a mop until it started barking.

"Auntie says I can't keep him." Cottia had announced, "She wouldn't even let me  inside with him to give him a bath."

Marcus had made it downstairs on his own that day and was regretting it rather but he grabbed his crutch gamely and led her to the bathroom and they had scrubbed down the puppy and Marcus had trimmed some of the wild and matted hair until it looked a bit more reasonable, if slightly lopsided.

"Are you sure it isn't  a bear cub?" Marcus had teased and he had really meant to get someone to bring it to a shelter.  Aquila had a few old and noble looking hunting dogs, as creaky as he was, who he had used to go duck hunting when he was more limber and now mostly slept in front of the fire in his  study. Marcus had not thought that a grey and ragged puppy would really fit in with them, or in the expensive surroundings of his Uncle's house, but Aquila had wandered in on them in the kitchen feeding it kibble and his favorite Lurcher trailing at his feet had fallen in love with the cub and started licking its face to  Cub's rapturous delight.

His uncle had mildly asked its name and Cottia had answered Cub and that had been the end of that.  Cub learned to heel and sit and rollover and after rather more patience then Marcus had seen from her before Cottia taught him the infinitely useful skill  of go for help that came in handy when through Cub's rambunctiousness or Marcus's over work Marcus fell somewhere in the rambling hallways and had trouble getting up.

A year after  his arrival, just when Marcus was starting to think that he was going to go insane from not doing anything, a lifetime of pushing himself to his limits coming  into conflict with nothing to push against, Aquila had over an old friend, recently retired, and within three months Marcus found himself at Quantico. After Quantico he had been sent  to LA for two years and when he was reassigned to New York City he found that texting and emails and facebook photos had apparently failed to convey that Cottia was not a fox faced girl any more but a very shrewd  young woman now enrolled in college, and somehow or other Marcus found himself married and well respected in his office and still living with his uncle because on days when he was angry at his long dead Grandfather he could at least be glad he had  family now.

Marcus worked hard and  things went well, he put away criminal after criminal, including the elusive forger Esca Mac Cunoval who very nearly displaced Cottia as the  angriest person he had ever met and broke Marcus's nose when Marcus had bodily tackled him to prevent an escape. Marcus still had no idea how Esca fooled anyone else.  He might be able to smile winningly say whatever he needed to charm his way into almost any place, but in his eyes there was always a simmering rage. Marcus had to think well of them though, once cuffed Marcus had patted him down and found two knives that Esca could have gone for and given himself another minute to get away. He might have made it, but he had gone for the less effective and less lethal option.

And then Marcus had gone after Liathan who made none such equivocations, and had taken him in, but only after the smuggler had put three bullets into Marcus's wounded leg and undone ten years of conditioning.

When he had woken at the hospital this time Cottia had been sleeping at his side and as soon as he  moved Cub had shot out from under his bed and started licking his hand.

"You  idiot!" Cottia had yelled and smacked him and the nurses had come in and kicked them both out and declared that Marcus's emotional support animal  could return later, after they had done an awful lot of tests.

"Emotional support animal?" Marcus asked Cottia when she finally was allowed to return, with a very  penitent looking cub behind her.

Cottia had shrugged,  "It got him in. You're still an idiot."

"Did they get him?"  Marcus had asked.

"I hate you so much, Marrying you was the  worst idea ever." Cottia had declared,but then she had climbed into bed very carefully to curl up  on his unwounded side. "They arrested him you giant dumbass. He's getting charged with everything, including attempted murder of a federal agent."

Marcus had been ferried  home and started work on being able to stand on his own again.  "Most people only have to learn how to walk once." he had whined once when he had managed to  limp and shuffle all the way out of his bedroom door only to collapse on the chaise lounge placed just beside  it. "Where did this come from?" he asked, pointing to the unfamiliar furniture.

"The attic,  I thought it would be useful. And this is your third  time, it should be old hat by now." Cottia had returned mercilessly, but she also brought him coffee so he forgave her.

Marcus hadn't been defeated yet, so he got himself down to walking with a cane, and gritting his teeth  hard enough that Cottia had found pamphlets about the long term dental consequences and kept leaving them in the kitchen. He wouldn't become dependent on painkillers  he promised himself.

The FBI called him a hero, and unlike the army they found himself ways to  keep himself busy. It was office work, when he had always been a field agent, but since he usually spent the first twenty minutes after he got home sitting in the foyer and stroking Cub's ears until he  could convince himself to go any further he didn't complain. His team were good people and they didn't discount his expertise just because he was now the voice in their ear instead of the agent beside them.

Esca's situation only came to his attention because his uncle was  an infernal gossip and had friends everywhere.

"That young forger your brought in."  Aquila had started one night, "He's in a heap of trouble."

"What did he do in jail?"

"Got himself beaten half to death, and exposed a prison gang that the guards didn't even know about doing  it."

"If he's ratted on a gang  won't there be people after him?" Cottia had asked.

"Yes."  Marcus had answered.

"Well, maybe you should  do something?" Cottia had asked.

Which was how three weeks later Esca  ended up in his Uncle's parlor, Ankle monitor attached and one of Marcus's field agents reading him the conditions of his very probational release.

Esca if anything looked even angrier, but he was smiling politely at the agent and she didn't seem to notice.

Diana finished and looked at Marcus expectantly.  Marcus still wasn't sure how he had ended up in this situation.

Cottia appeared in the doorway in a deep blue tunic style dress, her mass of curls piled on her head and a few tumbling down in wa way  that looked purposeful but Marcus knew was the result of his wife deciding she was fucking done with this getting ready shit. "Diana, just the woman I was looking for."  She declared. "Are you off duty?" She strode over to Marcus's desk and leaned over to kiss his cheek before she went and added another log to the fire.

Marcus  watched Diana and Esca both take in the sight of Cottia with appreciation.

"I am now,  I've surrendered Mr. Mac Cuvol to your husband's  custody."

"Esca, please."   Esca had insisted and Diana had smiled.

"Good, if you've occupied Marcus, would you do me the  honor of being my accompaniment for the night, I'm checking  out a new venue and Marcus hated going to these things even before standing became  an issue."

Diana looked slightly taken aback at Cottia's bluntness and briefly looked back at Marcus, only to find him smiling.

"I'd be delighted."  Diana replied and Cottia had held out a  hand. 

"I will definitely owe you one."  Cottia declared and Diana left with a smile.

Esca prowled around the room once they had left.  As he paced back and forth he seemed to forgot to keep the charming smile on his face, and the anger that Marcus always saw in his eyes took over his whole countenance.

"What's your stake in this?" Esca asked with an abrupt gesture at his file on Peter's desk.  Marcus was oddly pleased that Esca wasn't trying to charm him.

"Someone of your expertise could be invaluable to the Bureau." Marcus said blandly.

Esca had whirled around slammed his hands down on the desk.  Marcus took in the traces of bruises on his face, almost but not quite gone, the mostly healed scraps and the nose that was slightly off kilter.  He looked down Esca's still raw knuckles and the brace around his wrist. He had been almost pretty when he had gone to prison, now with a day or two of stubble, three years of the kind of muscles that prison put on a man and a few more scars  he looked handsome, and dangerous.

"What the hell  do you want from me?" Esca snarled.

Marcus didn't know, this deal had been half his Uncle's work, his fingers still in every pie and a good third Cottia prodding him for some  reason he still didn't understand. Which left his so called stake a fairly thin sliver of something in Esca's gaze that had caught his eye when he tracked him down and a general disinterest in people being beaten to death.

"I want you to help me do my job.   Because you're brilliant and I'd hate to see that mind go to waste."  Marcus met his gaze head on, let Esca search his face for whatever he was looking for.

Esca hadn't snarled again but he strode off to the other end  of the long study and went for the door to the garden.

"Please come  back." Marcus said using the desk to climb to his feet while Esca wasn't looking.  After a moment he decided to try it without the cane. Cub jumped up from beside the fire to come to his side.

Esca turned abruptly, "I thought my leash was two miles long." 

"It is." Marcus said.  It was raining and freezing outside, but he was pretty sure Esca would be more comfortable with fewer walls  around him. "But that door is painted shut. I'll show you the way out."

Esca relaxed fractionally and followed Marcus through a parlor where Marcus turned on the lights in the garden and out that door.  Marcus took care not to limp.

Uncle Aquila 's house was  built in a square like the Roman villas of old and there was a delightfully overgrown garden in the middle with vines growing up the walls and a patch of grass where Cub liked to roll around.  In daylight it was pretty, in the october night it looked like a vampire should be lunging out from behind the statues. Cub took advantage of the grass, even wet as it was in the damp October mist and  Marcus took a seat on one of the stone benches under a miniature willow. Esca paced back and forth on the path.

"I don't understand you Agent."  Esca said.

"You could call be any of my names, I have three, I'll  even let you pick."

"Shall I call you Flavius?  You are not blond." Esca said.

"You've done your homework." Marcus replied.

"On the only man who could catch me, of course I have."  Esca whirled and paced back the other way across the garden, "None  of which prepared me for you to offer me a pardon."

"But you took it anyways." Marcus ventured, hoping that fact signalled that Esca wasn't entirely opposed to whole  idea."

"I didn't really want to die either."  Esca admitted and with the admission his shoulders relaxed fractionally and the frenetic pace of his steps slowed.   "This seemed the better option. I also wasn't expecting to be sent to your house."

"This isn't my house."  Marcus said, "This is my uncle's house."

"But you live here?" Esca asked,  curiosity making him turn to actually look Marcus in his eyes. 

"I do, so does my wife.  My Uncle is fond of company and had no children."

Esca let his steps come  closer, "I will admit I was imagining you in some small house farther out from here, I was  expecting to be put in a cupboard under the stairs."

Marcus laughed, "You have your own bathroom and study, or parlor, or I suppose since it's you, probably a studio.   This house was built by people who like their privacy."

Esca dropped down next to him on the bench.  

"What designs did you imagine that we have on you?" Marcus asked, now  that Esca's anger seemed to have run its course for the moment.

Esca shrugged, "I have no virtue, so you couldn't want that.  You will admit that the situation is fairly strange?"

"I will at that."  Marcus said. "My Uncle called in a number of favors.  There was not really anything in precedence."

"What are you working on right now?"

"Now?" Marcus rubbed Cub's damp head as the dog sat down at his feet, apparently bored with the grass.   "Last two weeks were working on your paperwork, my team might have a few leads, but nothing concrete yet, we're  waiting for a new case."

Esca frowned, "I thought you always had three or four cases running at any given time."

"I did,"  Marcus agreed, "I've slowed down."

Esca still frowned at him and thin tilted his head up where the willow was dripping water onto his head.  "It's raining."

Marcus waited patiently.

"They didn't let us out in the rain in prison."  Esca explained, "Too much work to clean up all the mud."   he looked down at the goosebumps on his arms, he had appeared in a heavy coat  but that had been left on the coat rack and now he was only wearing a thin tee shirt that the swirls  of his tattoo peeked out of. "We should probably go inside."

"Yes."  Marcus seconded. 

Esca stood up but when Marcus went to join him he realized he would have been better standing the whole time.  The cold of the stone bench seemed to have soaked through muscle and bone and his leg locked up uselessly.

Esca gave him a curious look as he gritted his teeth but still could not shift the stubborn muscles.   Cub started to bark excitedly up at Esca and turn in circles.

"Why do I feel like I'm in a Lassie movie, there's not a well is there?"  Esca asked.

"That would be Cub going for help.  We never taught him to be choosey in which kind of help.  If you don't mind can you help me up?" Marcus asked.

Esca still looked puzzled but held out a hand.  Marcus took it and braced his other hand against the bench and managed to haul himself to his feet, only to unbalance and toppled forward as his leg didn't take any better  to being vertical.

Instead of falling to the damp ground as he had expected, Esca caught him with strong arms and maneuvered the much larger man till Marcus could wrap one arm over his shoulder and lean on him.

Thus arranged Esca helped him limp inside to the parlour where Marcus directed him to a low chair by the fire.  It would be hell to get out of when Cottia got home, but right now Marcus needed to stretch out in front of the warmth.

"I didn't know that your leg was that  bad when you were chasing me." Esca said.

"It wasn't, I was fine until Liathan put a few bullets in my leg and reset my physio schedule."

"Liathan?" Esca asked and there was something wild and scared in his eyes that Marcus hadn't seen before.

"I caught him."  Marcus offered and saw Esca  visibly relax, that was something to look into when Marcus felt a little less wobbly.

It was only eight, Cottia would probably sweep back in at eleven  at the earliest, at which point Marcus though that he might be up to walking again, but Esca, while not pacing for the moment, still looked restless and Marcus couldn't exactly show him to his rooms.  Aquila for all of his being the driving force behind Esca being there had gone off to Paris for a week and half.

Sassticca, his Uncle's housekeeper solved the problem by appearing in the doorway with a covered dish in her hands.

"You shouldn't still be working, Sassticca, Uncle isn't here, you should be taking a break."

"And you shouldn't be going outside in the rain in this weather, but I see lights on anyways."  She chided and put the tray down on a low table.

"Sassticca, this is Esca Mac Cunoval, Esca,this is Sassticca who makes the best food I have ever tasted.  Do not get on her bad side."

She swatted his shoulder affectionately, "I have no bad side, but keep Marcus out of the rain or I might find one."  She said with a chiding shake of her fingers at Esca. "Now I am going to bed. behave yourself better."

"I'll try."  Marcus promised. Once she left he took the cover off to reveal a stacked plate of grilled cheese and two bowls of tomato soup.

Marcus took one and gestured towards Esca, "Eat something, she'll be insulted if you don't."  He said and selected a grilled cheese."

"Did she raise you?" Esca guessed as he takes the other  bowl and inhales the steam.

Marcus laughed,  "No, she'll say she retaught me manners though.  I grew up in Queens." He paused and tried to find the right words, "My family was complicated.  I didn't meet my uncle till I was in my twenties."

Esca looked strangely triumphant, "I  knew that you didn't come from this kind of place." He said with a wave at the oil paintings and the fireplace.

Marcus took a bite of grilled cheese and considered. "Where did you think I came from?"

"Queens, well not Queens specifically, but something similar, and Military of course.  The outer boroughs was hard to figure out behind the overwhelming military presence."

"And the federal agent?" Marcus asked

"That's a badge, you always seemed a soldier to me."  Esca said easily. "This is really good, it's been ages since I've had actual food."  There was still anger in his eyes, but it seemed less than usual. Marcus hoped he was not tricking himself.

When they finish eating Marcus gave Esca directions to the kitchens, and half expected him not to return, but he did and started examining the books on the shelf.  There was a library on the other side of the study, and Uncle Aquila had his tower study in the back left corner of the house but on some cold nights he prefered to sit in here, so he had had one of the china cupboards transformed into a bookcase.  Most of the books were general interest, but the top shelf was one of his Uncle's odd collections.

"These are all fakes."  Esca said cautiously, as if expecting a rebuke.

"I know."  Marcus said.

"Your uncle collects fake first editions?"

"It amuses him." Marcus said with a shrug.  "And it amuses him to see people gets upset about leaving such 'valuable' pieces out in the open."

"This one isn't a fake."  Esca said, as he carefully handled a copy of 1984, "It's a misprint, which is actually more valuable."

"Huh." Marcus said, "I think he's had that one for awhile, I'll let you break the news to him, when he gets back.  It will be a good way to get on his good side."

"Do you want to verify what I'm saying?"  Esca prodded.

"Why would you lie?"  Marcus said, "If you were making it up my uncle would find that out when he gets it reappraised and then I would know to be even more cautious when listening to you, and then you would also be making my uncle look the fool, and currently you are living in his  house, I'm sure you could find a place for what the FBI is willing to pay, but it would probably not have lovely old ladies bringing you grilled cheese."

"Is that why you're going to trust me to help the FBI?"  Esca asked

"With the addition that if you  get caught lying to the FBI you go back to jail quite quickly."

Esca rubbed absently at his knuckles.  "Are you going to be able to get back out of that chair?"

Marcus shrugged, "Cottia will come home at some point and get me upstairs.  If you'd rather go to bed I can tell you how to get there."

Esca seemed to be measuring his options. "I could help you upstairs." he offered, "I don't suppose you have an elevator?"

Marcus shook his head,  "House was built before Elevators.  I'm only on the second story though, Uncle's rooms are on the fourth.  But If you don't mind I would appreciate it."

Esca shrugged and stood.

Marcus found it surprisingly easy to lean on him, most people either tried to help too much or too little, the first lead to him tripping over them and the second had led to several memorable occasions of being dropped, but Esca let him lean against him without trying to carry him and it was remarkably easy to make it up the broad stairs to his and Cottia's apartment.  Esca pushed the door open and managed to find the lights. 

The apartment was three large rooms, that spanned the width of the building, they were on the opposite side as Marcus's original room as a concession to Cottia not wanting to see her Aunt from her balcony.  Being as wide as they were, there were windows on both sides.

The first room was supposed to technically be a parlour he supposed, but became a sort of combination office and library,  especially useful the last year since it meant Marcus could work from home without going downstairs. The second which was where Marcus had Esca bring him, was a eat in kitchen with wide counters.  There was an armchair with a heating pad in the seat placed incongruously at the table and that is where Marcus sat down. On his second to worst days this was as far as he could get, on his worst days trying to stand up in the morning, even on crutches had pained him enough that Cottia would steal the crutches and force him to watch costumed dramas with her till he would admit that it was at least nice not to have consumption.

"Your rooms are just down the hall," Marcus offered, but Esca seemed in no hurry to leave.  He picked up one of the checkers pieces on the board on the table. "Not Chess?"

"I find that people put too much  meaning in chess, also my wife always beats me at it,  Checkers gives me half a chance." Marcus replied. "Do you want a game?"

When Cottia returned two hours later  the grocery list had been conscripted to keep score, they had drank most of a six pack and Marcus's leg was beginning to unfreeze.  They had just finished a game and Esca was ahead by two.

Esca tensed as she came in, probably waiting to be chastised about being in her kitchen, but she seemed utterly unfazed by his presence and Esca relaxed.

"Diana enjoy herself?"  Marcus asked.

"Mmm, it was lovely, she has excellent instincts when it comes to what kind of food people  will actually eat, as opposed to think they should be eating, though actually the crab puffs weren't bad for once."  Cottia said and pulled the pins out of her hair, letting it tumble down her shoulders. She leaned down and kissed him  lightly, but frowned as she pulled away. "Heating pad?"

"It's not that bad," Marcus said.

Cottia turned and narrowed her eyes at Esca, "What did he do?"

"We went out in the garden for a bit, I had a disagreement with a bench." Marcus said to save Esca from having to pick sides.

"Did Marcus show you your rooms?"  she asked Esca.

Esca shook his head,  "No, once we got up here we stayed.  But I'm currently winning, so if you would direct me, I would be glad to go." Esca nodded his head to Marcus and trailed  out after Cottia. She returned a few minutes later, pulling her dress off over her head. "How not bad is not bad?" She stood before him in tights and nothing else, her small firm breasts unencumbered.

"I had to get Esca to help me up the stairs," Marcus said  and rose carefully, "But I've been sitting very still and I think I shouldn't have a problem."

"Good, because if he makes a habit of breaking you, I'm going  to have words." Cottia said and led the way to the bedroom. Marcus longed for a year ago when he would have thrown her over his shoulder and carried her there, but the view was definitely lovely this way.

Marcus was pleased not to be too  stiff in the morning. They ate toast  and drank coffee and then Cottia pulled on a pencil skirt and blouse and kissed him before she headed out to a far too early appointment in Westchester.

Esca followed him to work, installed himself at the table in the corner of Marcus's office and started looking through the files that Diana brought them.  Around eleven, when there weren't any other agents around Esca slammed his hands down on the table and pushed himself up to stalk around the room.

"What is it?" Marcus asked.

"You're testing me." Esca growled and dropped a file on Marcus's desk, the contents spilled across the surface and Marcus examined them.

"You have a  problem with the Martinique file?"  Marcus kept his voice even and looked Esca in the eye.

"It's eight months old."

"Yes."

"You've solved it." Esca snarled and finally looked away to make another loop of the room.

"Yes."  

"Why are you making me look at a solved file?"

"What are your conclusions on it?"

"That you arrested the right man but your team missed at least five different signs in the type that could have proved that just as easily."

"And that's why you're looking at solved files.  Take notes and add them to the file."

Esca didn't looked anymore pleased but he returned to his seat and started scribbling furiously.  Diana poked her head in a few minutes later and Esca looked relaxed and at ease, he smiled at her and chatted about the Martinique file, which she had been lead on and even demonstrated a few of the things he had picked out.

Esca went through the older files with a fine tooth comb, and earned the gratitude of several prosecutors and the eternal thanks of one man Esca had proven innocent. Esca spent more than a few nights in Marcus's and Cottia's rooms, playing chess with Cottia or Checkers with Marcus.  Other nights Marcus left the tracking program up on the computer and watched Esca pace around the confines of his two mile radius. He never seemed to stop for longer than a minute or two. Just paced up and down the city streets. Which didn't leave any place for Marcus to check up on and did not in the least mean that  he was alone on all those walks.

Every morning,rain or shine Esca rose early and ran the loop of his radius at least once more.

Marcus brought out the new files and started him on them.  They crack a case involving Spanish victory bonds that would have taken Esca off probation if he hadn't broken his radius  to get the case finished.

As it was he got a warning that if he did it again they wouldn't be able to  get away with it, without actually sending him to jail. Cottia took both of them out to a new restaurant that was trying to woo her into using them for weddings.

When Marcus and Cottia crawled into bed that night she snuggled up to his chest.  "Do you think you can trust him?"

"I don't think he wants to fuck me over." Marcus said into her hair.   "But that can always change."

They track down two men selling fake antique violins.  Marcus wanted to see Esca closer in the field and takes the lead on getting one of the men to betray the other by posing as Esca's fence.  Marcus is not cleared by his doctor or his supervisors to be running down anyone which is why when things go south he took a knife to the arm that he could have blocked so the violin man can't take the chance to run.

Esca ganged up on him with Cottia when Marcus tried to explain how this was the reasonable thing to do.

Marcus gave him more cases and watched Esca prove himself valuable time and time again.  He remained polite and charming to agent and witness alike. He had the ability to look vulnerable enough for people to trust him with things.  Marcus had never mastered that knack, not that he had tried, the army had taught him to look stern and he loomed over most people anyways so he had stuck with trustworthy.  Esca though looked like he might have been knocked around the block a time or two and a hell of a lot of people they encountered could relate.

But being knocked around hadn't just made Esca vulnerable it had made him angry and that hadn't changed much.  He still let the mask down around Marcus, though Marcus worried that the anger wasn't its own kind of mask. That was resolved one night when Esca had been sent home while Marcus finished the paperwork on the case.  He finished up at seven and headed home.

Marcus slowly climbed up the stairs and opened the door to the office.  Cottia was at her desk, her hands steepled and and brow creased as she watched Esca pacing back and forth, his lips tight.

Marcus moved slowly and kept his hands low but Esca whirled on him.  

"Esca?" Marcus asked.  Esca fists were clenched but he didn't raise them.    

"I got a message." Esca said.

"From?"

"An old friend.  Well about an old friend.  He was someone I grew up with.  He died. No, that sounds like an accident. He got killed."

"I'm sorry."  Marcus said. He knew it wouldn't help but there was nothing else to say.

"I could have helped him."  Esca shouted. "I was trying to track him down to tell him I was out.  He got involved with the wrong people while I was in."

"Are these people we can track down?"  Marcus asked. "The ones who killed him."

Esca stopped in his tracks.  "You'd do that."

"He tracks down bad people.  I'm guessing they're bad people?"  Cottia asked.

"Yes."   Esca answered.

"Give me details. I'll try and help."  Marcus said and dropped into the seat at his desk and pulled out a yellow legal pad and a pen.

Esca started walking again and grimly gave the outlines of a fairly shady group of smugglers working down at the docks..   "I never worked with them, but I knew people who did."

It wasn't Marcus's normal area of expertise, but the smugglers worked with art thieves across state borders and he traded a few favors to get it assigned to his team.  It was worth it for Esca's look of satisfaction when they locked up the man who had tied his friend to a pair of cinder blocks and dropped him in the river.

That night Esca drank most of a bottle of wine with dinner in their rooms and fell asleep on the chaise lounge outside Marcus and Cottia's door.  Marcus drape a throw over him and looked up to see Cottia watching Esca closely.

"He looks innocent when he's asleep."  Cottia said.

"Most people think he looks innocent all of the time."  Marcus said.

"They aren't watching his eyes then."  She said and took Marcus's hand to lead him to bed.

Marcus wished that getting the shooter arrested was the end of it.  Instead the man rolled over on all of his contacts, employers, anyone who might have unpaid parking tickets that he knew and Marcus found himself spending days down at the docks as the February wind blew off the Hudson and sent a chill through his bones.

He staggered home on time for once.  Esca close at his heels, as if afraid he was going to fall.  He had already fallen once that day, a thin layer of ice on pavement that he hadn't seen and had hit the ground jarringly hard.  Esca had been halfway down the block talking to someone but had rushed back and pulled Marcus up and hadn't left his side for the rest of the day, despite Marcus slowing to a snail's pace.

The ideal end to the day would involve sinking into a bath for a good hour till the heat unknotted the aches, But it was a Friday and he had promised Cottia that he would accompany her to a sweet sixteen party she had been hired to arrange.  He was supposed to stand next to her and help her make fun of the truly ridiculous demands the family had come up with, and the ones that Cottia had negotiated them down to. The girl of the hour wanted to go ice skating with five friends and then drink hot chocolate after.  The parents were thinking more along the lines of debutant. Cottia was pretty sure she had figured out something to please them both, but it had been making her want to pull out her hair for four months.

Esca followed him to his rooms but thankfully left Marcus to go to the bathroom on his own.  Marcus leaned against the sink and opened the medicine cabinet. There was a squat orange bottle, almost all as full as when he had gotten it from the pharmacy.   

The doctor had pressed the prescription on him.   Positive that Marcus didn't know what he was talking about, that once he was home and off the IVs he wouldn't be able to deal with the pain and would be cursing him for sending him home without painkillers.  The man had even gotten the pharmacy to fill them and add them to his belongings when he checked out.

Marcus had taken a few of them, mostly of which had been in the first two months home and a direct result of falling and needing the pain to calm down enough he could stand anyone touching him enough to get him back up.  He remembered the awful foggy way they had made him feel. The inside of his head had felt like it was stuffed with wool and the walls had seemed like the were pulsing.

He was reading the back of the bottle to see if he could get away with taking half or a quarter of one when Cottia pushed the door open.

"No."  She ordered.

"Cottia."  Marcus started and didn't finish.

"Don't tell me you were going to take one of those and pretend you're fine."

"I am fine."

"Esca." She started

"Needs not to mother hen me."  Marcus cut off.

"Well maybe if you'd look after yourself he wouldn't have to."  Cottia said and strode across the room to take the bottle out of his hand.  "Last time you had one of these I stayed up all night with you because you thought the roof was going to fall in.  I was amazed you didn't have a heart attack."

"I'm your husband, I'd like once in awhile to be able to keep my promises."

"I would want you to come with tonight if the the options weren't clenching your teeth hard enough to crack them or watching the walls melt."

Marcus winced.  "You should take Esca then."

"What?"

"To the party, take Esca, he can liven up a stake out.  He'll be perfect."

"If I do will you take some Ibuprofen and promise not to fall asleep in the bath."

"Solemnly swear."  Marcus said.

"I'll ask him then,"

Cottia crawled into bed past midnight, naked and smiling.  Marcus was almost too warm from the heating pad he'd had against his leg so he had no objection when she pushed back the blankets and climbed on top of him, very careful not to jostle his leg.

Marcus smelled the soft floral scent of her perfume, but she also smelled of something woodsier that he identified as Esca.  He pulled back, puzzled.

"There was a lot of dancing."  Cottia explained.

"Is he good?" Marcus asked and ran his hands down her chest to pinch at one nipple and then the other.

"Very."  Cottia replied, the word trailing off into a moan as Marcus applied his tongue to where his fingers had been.  Marcus missed dancing with Cottia, he had gotten halfway decent at swing dancing while she was working her way through most of the instructors in the city to find the best for weddings,  that had been before Liathan.

Cottia swatted him in the back of his head.  "Focus, don't have angst in the middle of this."

"Yes Ma'am."  Marcus said obediently and moved further down the bed.

-

Marcus pushed open the door to the kitchen and stopped.  There were bare toes peeking off the edge of the chaise lounge.  He froze and then pushed the door open a little further and let out a sigh of relief when he recognized the blue pattern wrapped around the ankles.

He turned back to Cottia who was sprawled out on the bed checking messages on her phone.  She looked faintly pentiencett. "Esca may be sleeping in the kitchen."

"Esca is sleeping in the kitchen."

"Good, he can make the coffee then."

"Do you want eggs?"

"There's cake.  I told them that four was too many.  They didn't listen."

"You want it in bed?"

"No." Cottia said with a sigh and rolled out of bed to pick up her robe.

Marcus pushed the door the rest of the way open and  Esca rolled off the the Chaise Lounge fluidly, ending in a crouch at the head of the table.

"At ease."  Marcus said and Esca stood up.  "Cottia wants you to make coffee."

Esca looked hesitant, as if he was waiting for Marcus to say something else, but Cottia came out of the room behind Marcus and leaned against his shoulder.  "Coffee? I like mine strong but I think Marcus hasn't figured out the difference between coffee and tar yet."

"That might be influence of the office."  Esca said, finally relaxing and moving towards the counter.

Cottia went over to the calendar and started marking dates.

"Did you get your roller derby schedule?"

"Mm-hmm."  She said as she flipped the page.  "Oh Damn it, I've got a meet on our anniversary, do you want me to cancel ahead of time?"

Marcus glanced at the  calendar, "It's a Thursday.  If you say you aren't going to your game I'll end up stuck at the office till ten and you'll be warming the bench for no reason.  We can go out the day after."

Cottia hung the pen back up by the calendar and returned to Marcus to kiss his cheek

"How long have you been married?" Esca asked as he started the water boiling.

"Nine years, come next month."  Marcus said. "There's a wedding album next to the Shakespeare on the shelf."

Esca picked it up and  brought it to the table.  The first picture was of Marcus looking very tired but still standing straight and smiling as a man in handcuffs was put into a waiting police car.  It looked like it had but cut out of a magazine. Opposite that was an article that apparently went with the photo about Marcus Aquilia's take down of a large scale drug smuggling ring in Miami.

When Esca looked up questioningly at Marcus, he just smiled and waved at Esca to turn the page.  The next few pages were of Cottia, looking very young and and in the company of three other girls, sprawled on beach towels and and drinking multi colored drinks.  Esca turned the page again and Marcus made an appearance in the beach shots. Mostly looking exhausted or sleeping in the sun. Then there was an ugly municipal building and Marcus Cottia and the three girls all standing around it in beachwear, The three girls wearing matching blue sarongs and Cottia in red.  An occasional picture was missing one of the three and had a man in a dress shirt and slacks instead, standing next to Marcus as a justice of the peace presided. The album finished with the six of them back at a beach drinking more cocktails.

"How old were you here?" Esca asked.  

"Eighteen, It was summer  break of my freshman year at Columbia."  Cottia said, "Marcus was sent down to follow up on a case he had started in LA.  He found me after it wrapped up and graciously ignored a lot of underage drinking."

"And then you got married?"  Esca asked.

Cottia shrugged, "I'd known him for three years by then.  I tried the whole dating people who weren't him thing and didn't like it."  Cottia had dated three women and two men in the two years that Marcus was gone and broken up with all of them because they couldn't keep up with her in one way or another.   Marcus had gone on a few dates with men in LA, and had one three month relationship that ended when Marcus wouldn't come out to his coworkers, which was something that he couldn't really resent Robert for.  Uncle Aqualia had come into the garden where Cottia and Marcus had been talking for three hours the day after he had come back and commented that Cottia looked less tense than she had for a while. Marcus had talked to his former supervisor on the phone a few days later, and he had told Marcus that  he could hear the smile in Marcus's voice and it was a strange state for the world to be in.

"To clarify,  we were not dating when she was fifteen."  Marcus amended quickly.

"No."  Cottia agreed.  "And then he left for two years, and I grew up."

Esca still looked a little thrown.  "How old were you then?"

"Twenty nine."  Marcus said. 

"I told him he could  either marry me then and there, or conduct an relationship entirely secret from my  aunt until I was thirty and she had given up all hope."

"You should have stuck  by the secret idea, after she got over the whole not being able to plan a wedding thing she decided she liked me."

"Yes, it was rather disappointing.  I didn't drop out of college and Marcus kept getting commendations for things."

The kettle began to whistle and Esca got up and measured out the coffee in the french press.

"Then we lived in a very tiny studio close to campus for a year, and Uncle Aquila refitted the apartment for us and gave it to us for an anniversary present."  Cottia said and smiled. "He said the house was too quiet."

Later that day, they were both in the office doing work that was better not left till Monday.  Esca had proclaimed them insane and left to do his morning run and then visit the Met, which Marcus had pointed out was kind of like work for him.  Esca had flipped him off and left shaking his head. Cottia had watched him go with a smile that made Marcus's heart flip flop. 

"Do you regret getting married as young as you did?"  Marcus asked.

Cottia looked up from her laptop.  "I don't regret marrying you."

"Not what I asked though." Marcus argued.

"Stop using your cop voice."  Cottia said. "No, I think I just would have had a string of short relationships and been frustrated when none of them could live up to you.  You're my rock, you ground me. But how about you? I know that I'm the only woman you ever dated, but if you had waited a few years it would have been barely mentionable for you to be with another man.  The marriage law passed last year."

"No, I don't regret it.  You still the person I want to wake up with every morning."

"I think these schedules could wait till tomorrow.  How about you?"

"Definitely could wait till tomorrow."  Marcus agreed and put his laptop to sleep.  

They solved three more cases.  Two bureau assigned and one another connection to the men who had killed Esca's friends.  They spent late nights at the office, and other nights with Cottia in the kitchen, plotting out leads or playing scrabble. Esca also accompanied Cottia on three more outings, Marcus actually made it to two planned dates, mostly because Esca took note of their calendar and spent most of those days getting Marcus not to overwork himself.  Esca also spent a fair number of nights in with Marcus, and dragged Marcus out to a lecture on Early Soviet art.

"Esca says that my appreciation of Soviet propaganda materials means I have an innate desire for authority, but he was the one who brought me there."  Marcus complained to Cottia.

"Was there a section on non state approved works." She asked

"Yes."  

"Explains why he went."

-

Esca struggled and tried to buck Marcus off of him, but Marcus didn't budge. If Esca wanted to win this fight he shouldn't have tried to tackle Marcus to the ground.  Marcus might go down easily, but once they were down he outweighed Esca significantly. Marcus had him pinned to the ground and had got cuffs on him for the moment, but Esca would probably be out of them in under five minutes.

Below him  Esca stilled for a second and then tried to head but him.  "Marcus, let me go, Guern has a wife, two children, you have to let me help him."

"I am not letting you get yourself arrested.   That will not help anyone. Calm down and come back to the office and we will figure this out."

"What if they're killing him right now."  Esca argued.

"They've had him for two days, either he's already dead or they're keeping him alive for a reason."

Esca bucked his hips in a way that was obviously meant to be distracting, and might have worked if Marcus wasn't so focused on keeping the younger man alive. 

"You try that now, you're not going to get another chance later."  Marcus warned.

Esca froze.  Marcus had finally found a way to get him off guard.  "Back to the office or I lock you in a cell, those are your options.  Diana and Jones are on their way here for backup. You want me to explain why I'm pinning you to floor in cuffs?"

"You might not come out the best in that explanation."  Esca argued.

"Then you'd have to deal with Cottia.  You try to run I'll knock you back down, because I'm not chasing  you right now."

Esca snarled twisted again but he couldn't get enough leverage with his hands cuffed behind him.

"Marcus!" Diana called out as she came into the warehouse at a run, Jones not far behind her.

"It's ok."  Marcus called out, expecting Esca to calm down in the presence of his team he loosened his grip.  Instead Esca nearly slipped out of his grasp. Marcus twisted and slammed him back to the floor.

"Marcus?  Esca? Some sort of explanation would be good."  Jones asked.

"Esca is very upset and trying to get himself killed."  Marcus said. "I would appreciate some help in stopping him."

"They're going to kill  Guern." Esca snarled.

Jones looked completely taken aback, but Diana holstered her weapon and came closer, just in time as Esca twisted again and his handcuffs came off one arm.  Diana grabbed them and got them reclipped with Marcus's help and then slapped on her own pair. Jones finally moved to help and they got Esca pinned so Marcus could stand up.  

They carefully hauled Esca to his feet between them.  "Esca, man, you need to calm down or I'm going to have to call someone to bring in shackles."

"I can get out of those too."  Esca said, but finally went limp between the two agents.

"Not helping your case, Esca." Marcus said.

"I need to help him."  Esca said, his voice quieter, the snarl gone, almost begging.

"Great, explain who we're helping and how."  Jones said, "We'll go from there."

-

"Do not make me walk you into the office with cuffs, or tackle you in the lobby."  Marcus said and held up the key to the cuffs.

Esca held up his hands, leaving the cuffs behind his back.

"I will help you, you know I will."

"We won't be fast enough."  Esca said.

"Then stop holding things up with escape attempts."  Marcus snapped.

Esca nodded and looked grim.

-

They find Guern but he throws himself in between Marcus and the men who had been holding him and takes a bullet to the gut.  He makes it to the hospital. And there confesses to Marcus, who he seems to believe to be the ghost of his father, the fairly sordid tale of how he came to be where he is.  Starting with leaving Marcus's father behind in Iran, not sure if he was alive or dead, continuing with the smugglers who got him back to the US, but only for a price, which turned out to be his continuing cooperation in a host of things that shade from a bad idea to deeply illegal.  Along the way he got married and had two children, which Marcus thought was probably the worst idea.

NYPD had collected Guern's  family from their home as soon as Esca divulged their address, and they brought them from the safe house to the hospital bed.  

Even with his family around Guern kept staring at Marcus so he left the room to pace the hall.

Esca was sitting in a chair outside the room, studying the floor he does not meet Marcus's gaze.  

"Did you know?"  Marcus starts, not even sure he knows what he's asked.

Esca nodded anyways.  "Guern talked about your father once or twice."

"And you never said a word."  

Esca shook his head and then surged to his feet, "No, I didn't.  What did you want me to say?"

"Anything!" Marcus said, 

"And dig myself a deeper hole, You didn't know I was involved with this.  I couldn't say a word without implicating myself in a load of things you didn't want to hear about." Esca looked up at him.

Marcus wanted to hit him so bad it hurt.  He supposed it showed in his face because Esca flinched visibly and stepped back.  That hurt in a new and somehow worse way so Marcus turned around and left. He knew that he should be writing down Guern's statement, or reporting to someone.  There's definitely something he should be doing. Instead he leaves the hospital and gets on the subway. He lets the movement of the train and the constant stream of people soothe him for more than an hour and then he comes to an station with cell reception and his phone starts going off.  He ignores the glares of the other passengers and gets off at the next station. Once on the street he calls Jones back, there's five calls from him.

"Is Esca with you?"

"No."  Marcus said curtly.

"Well he went outside his radius and then cut his tracker,"

"Fuck."  Marcus swore.

"Sir?"  Jones asked.

"Give me the last address."  Marcus ordered. "I'll check it out."

-

Marcus arrived at a well appointed office complex.  The receptionist is helpful after he showed her his badge and directed him to the third floor, where she was positive she had seen a man of Esca's description go.

There was only one door on the third floor.  It was unlocked, when Marcus entered he found Liathan, standing at a desk, and Esca, behind him and leaning against the wall, he looked at ease cleaned up from the scramble on the warehouse floor and the fight to recover Guern.  He was in new clothes. No trace of Guern's blood stained his cuffs.

He met Marcus's gaze and then Liathan nodded.  Marcus was still trying to figure out how Liathan was out of jail, and what on earth Esca was doing there.  

"Esca?"  Marcus questioned, and then he heard someone step through the door behind him and as he turned they stabbed something into his neck.

Marcus managed to get one solid  blow to the woman's head and then felt the narcotics began to take effect and the woman who had stabbed him swept his feet out from under him and he went down hard.

-

He woke up to find his hands tied behind him around a beam.  He was kneeling on the ground with his back to the pillar. His leg should be screaming in pain, but instead everything was behind a hazy fog that he couldn't fight his way out.  He opened his eyes but it didn't help, the walls were coming at him and then receding in waves and the floor seemed tilted at an impossible angle. He realized after far too long that it was his head tilted, not the floor, but when he tried to move it his stomach heaved instead so he decided to stay still.

Feet appeared in front of him and he raised his eyes to see Liathan.  The man said something and Marcus tried desperately to understand but it was just nonsense.  Liathan said something again, and then a third time. His manner became more agitated. He kicked Marcus in the ribs and Marcus coughed.

Esca appeared and said something as well.  Liathan frowned at him and then everything went dark.

When the lights came back Liathan was there again, his hand in Marcus's hair, pulling his head up.

"You aren't going to recover from what I do to you this time."  Liathan growled.

"Esca?" Marcus asked.  He was glad words were making sense again, even if he disliked the sound of what was being said.

Liathan turned, "He's asking about you.  Isn't that sweet?"

Esca appeared behind Liathan's right shoulder.  His didn't look hurt, or even particularly worried, he just had the same amiable slightly blank look he usually gave Marcus's superiors.

Liathan let go of Marcus's hair and turned and walked away.  "Come Esca, there's work to do."

Marcus couldn't see a window,  His watch gone from his wrist, and even if  it hadn't been, his hands were behind his back.  Jones had Esca's last location, but that building hadn't looked like it held a warehouse, which this certainly looked like.  He blinked and realized that what felt like minutes had disappeared. The walls had stopped moving quite as much but the floor hadn't entirely settled.

He saw the same woman who he had hit earlier appear,  a bruise was forming on her cheek and she had another hypodermic in her hand.

"No."  Marcus yelled. "No, Esca!"

She  ignored his yelling  and swiftly jammed it into his neck.

Marcus completely lost track of time.  He wasn't sure if he was awake or asleep.  He thought Esca and Liathan appeared again, they looked very friendly with each other, Liathan kept touching Esca.  His hand lingered on Esca's shoulder or on his hip and he looked possessive. Marcus was also fairly certain the shadows of the boxes were hiding  a very large cat and that didn't make any sense either. He heard the cat's ragged breathing and it took far too long to realize that the breathing was actually his own.  He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. His leg didn't hurt.

Liathan reappeared and crouched in front of him.  "I have him, he's mine. He's always been mine. He was tricking you.  He's clever, but he's afraid of me, he always has been, since we were boys and I broke his finger.  You only thought he was yours. Fear always wins. I'm going to teach you that." He said and produced a knife.  Marcus flinched and Liathan grinned. "See you're already learning."

He wasn't sure but he thought a very long time passed before the world started making sense again.  The floor stabilized and Marcus could finally make his head and his hands worked well enough together to try and get a hold of the pin in his boot to get one of the cuffs off.  His boots were gone, which ruined that plan. 

Esca reappeared, moving very quietly through the boxes.  

"Marcus."  He hissed. "Marcus, please tell me you're awake?"

"Esca?"  Marcus asked, unsure if Liathan was following him or not.

"Marcus, hold still and please don't punch me."  Esca whispered and produced a key.

"Is this a trick?"  Marcus asked.

"Would you believe me  if I said no?" Esca asked and got the cuffs off.

"I don't know."  Marcus said.

"Can you stand up."

"I don't know."  Marcus repeated.

Esca slipped under Marcus's arm and pulled him up.   Marcus's arm felt strange from being pulled behind his back for so long but Esca pushes a gun into his hand and Marcus kept a hold of it.  They staggered through the rows of boxes, Esca half dragged, half carried him. Marcus could not make his legs work properly.

"I thought I lost you." Marcus whispered.

"No, never."  Esca said and at that moment Liathan appeared in front of them.

"Esca, this was not part of the plan." Liathan said.  He raised a gun. "I think I'm going to shoot you in the leg.  That way you can remember Marcus if he means so much to you." He barely glanced at Marcus, focused entirely on Esca, who looked panicked.

Marcus clenched his fist and remembered the gun.  With the same automatic motion he had learned in basic and again at Quantico he raised his hand and emptied the clip into Liathan.

Esca startled backwards enough that he nearly dropped Marcus,  but he swiftly recovered and pulled them forward. Marcus managed to move a little better and take  some of his own weight. Esca guided them towards the wall and with a moment of hesitation he pushed open a door and dragged them through.  An Alarm sounded. Beyond the door there was a dock. Esca pulled him down it till they were nearly at the end and then staggered and tumbled them both into the water.  Marcus went under and then instinct kicked in. He was a strong swimmer. There wasa pool in Uncle Aquila's basement and that was one part of PT he hadn't had a bit of trouble with.  He popped above water and then Esca pushed him back down.

Marcus wondered if this is a very strange way of killing him, but then Esca pulled at him and Marcus followed.  They popped up under the dock only a few inches apart. 

"Esca?" Marcus asked.  "What's happening?"

Esca leaned forward and kissed him swiftly enough that Marcus didn't have time to kiss him back.  "I love you, trust me and follow me and we both might live long enough for you to arrest me. Ok?"

Marcus nodded and Esca started swimming.   They kept under the docks, the tide was high so there wasn't much room under most of them and feet keep running back and forth over head.  Finally they heard sirens and Esca let them stop swimming and just cling to the beams, a lot of sirens and then gunshots. Marcus felt his hands slip and the water close over his head and then Esca pulled him above water again, pulled him out from under the docks and Marcus realized they were clinging to a ladder.

Esca was shouting to someone and then hands pulled them both up on the dock.  Marcus tried to push himself up and figure out what was going on. Then Diana appeared at his side.

"God, sir, don't move, stay down.  We have it under control."

"Esca?"

"Is right there, Sir."  Diana hesitated, "Should I be putting him in cuffs?"

Marcus shook his head, "No."

"Liathan injected him with something."  Esca said. "Some sort of painkiller."

"Do you know what it was?" a new voice asked and Marcus noticed blue gloved hands.

"No."  Esca said, "But pretty much any painkiller stronger than Ibuprofen throws him off.  He won't take them."

"Well that's good, because until we figure out what he's on I can't give him anything else."

Marcus closed his eyes.

-

Cottia was curled up around him, her arm was across his chest and one leg thrown possessively over his good side.

Marcus spent half a moment trying to think about what kind of day she had that would make her quite this grabby in her sleep before he remembered what happened.  He opened his eyes and checked. That was definitely a hospital ceiling. 

"You said you wouldn't do this again."  Cottia said.

Marcus immediately felt his leg, frightened he would feel bandages or perhaps the whole thing finally gone.

"Your leg is fine." She said.  "I meant scaring me."

Marcus buried his nose in her hair.  "Someone let Liathan out of jail. I think I should be forgiven on those grounds."

"I will consider it."  Cottia said grudgingly.

"I think I might have kissed Esca?"  Marcus ventured.

"That's what you decided was the important thing?"  Esca asked and Marcus turned his head to see him sitting by the bedside petting Cub.

"Esca told me.  He kissed you." Cottia corrected.  "He also told me that he betrayed you and did not stop Liathan from giving you several large doses of morphine."

"Guern?" Marcus asked.

Esca shook his head, "He died, his family was with him.  He did manage to tell Diana where to find us."

"He also told me about your father."  Cottia said. 

Marcus closed his eyes but reached out a hand on his free side and Esca took it.  

"I'm willing to forgive all of the above because he brought you back, but I can change my mind if you need me to."

"No, you don't need to change your mind."  Marcus said and gripped Esca's hand. "On the condition that Esca explain exactly what the hell happened, in detail."

"Liathan" Esca started.

"Not right now."  Marcus said, cutting him off.  "Later, when I can write it down on the record."

"Alright."  Esca agreed.

-

Diana came in with a recorder and prompted Esca when Marcus couldn't.   Liathan had cut a deal with an agent called Fowler. He had turned in some very important people and how to find an awful lot of untraceable assets.  That that was probably a bribe was apparently only now occurring to the top brass. He had immediately disappeared upon release.

When she came  back the next day she had paperwork that apparently showed that Marcus had approved of Liathan's release and even written and signed a letter saying he would be a valuable asset to the Bureau.  Marcus recognized most of the phrasing as directly copied from the reports he had written about Esca. OPR's investigation three months ago into the work Esca had been doing suddenly became a lot more clear.

Either Cottia or Esca was at this bed for the three days they kept him at the hospital for observation.  They both showed up the day they let him out. He was mostly carried up the stairs, despite his protests that his leg hadn't suffered more than a bad cramp.  Then he was installed in state in his and Cottia's bed and Cottia curled up beside him. Esca sat at their feet.

"Are you sending me back to jail?" Esca asked.

"No.  You gave your testimony about your history with Liathan.   They've accepted you were acting under extreme duress, and then you rescued me at the first opportunity."

"I know the Bureau isn't sending me back, I could cause too much of a headache by demanding answers about Liathan.  But if you recommended it I would go back."

"I'm not sending you back."  Marcus said. "I trust you."

"I don't know why." Esca said.

"Because I think you lie to us less than you do to anyone else.  You could try not lying at all though."

"I'm madly and probably irrevocably in love with both of you, and if you want me to find someplace else to live I would understand."

Marcus was very glad that Cottia had brought this up already.

"We are not doing anything about that now."  Cottia said

Esca nodded, his face grim.

"No you idiot, not kicking you out.  We aren't doing that." Cottia said.

Esca went puzzled.  "What do you mean?"

"It's been an awful week."  Marcus said. "I want you to think things through before you do anything you might regret."

"What we are both failing at saying is we love you too, but we aren't doing anything, or deciding things till we're all back to a hundred percent."  Cottia said.  "Then we'll all talk about it like reasonable adults."

Esca nodded and went to move off the bed.

Marcus pulled back the blanket to his side. "You could stay though, if you wanted to?"

Esca gave him a look that fully implied that Marcus should know the answer to that by now and curled up in the offered spot.  Cottia laughed at them and Marcus fell asleep feeling warm and loved and that paperwork and conversations would all still be waiting for them in the morning, but for now they could rest.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the most self indulgent thing I have indulged in a long time. I know there aren't any Roman villas in Manhattan, and this isn't how the FBI works. Marcus's problems with painkillers are oddly the most reasonable thing because that's how my grandma always reacted to them.


End file.
